Reply-To: info@jsc.nasa.gov
STS-98
Report # 13
Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 7:00 p.m. CST
While the crew of the International Space Station continued to set up the
new Destiny Lab, the astronauts aboard Atlantis gave the station another
boost, prepared for a third spacewalk, performed some inspections of the
exterior and had a well-deserved break from what has been a busy,
productive pace.
While the Space Shuttle crew had about a half-day break, the station crew
ñ Commander Bill Shepherd, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev and Pilot Yuri
Gidzenko ñ continued their work powering up and checking out laboratory
systems. All of the labís systems are working well, except for one
supplementary carbon dioxide removal system in which a pump failed to
operate when first powered on. Station flight controllers quickly asked
the crew to power off the system and are continuing to troubleshoot the
problem. There is no urgency in activating the labís supplemental carbon
dioxide removal system ñ a similar Russian system in the stationís Zvezda
module is working well as has been the case throughout the station crewís
stay.
Also today, ground controllers for the first time switched control of the
stationís orientation to electrically powered gyroscopes rather than
fuel-consuming thrusters. Use of the Control Moment Gyroscopes, which are
functioning perfectly, is a milestone in station assembly that will
conserve precious propellants aboard the complex. The gyroscopes were
installed on the station during a shuttle flight in September 2000, but
could not be used for control of the station until key navigation
electronics were delivered inside Destiny.
During the day, Shuttle Commander Ken Cockrell once again set Atlantisí
thrusters to fire gradually in two extended sessions to increase the
stationís altitude, the second and third sets of such maneuvers during the
mission thus far. The reboosts raised the station and shuttle by another
almost six statute miles today, to an orbit with an average altitude of
230 statute miles. One more such reboost is planned before Atlantis
departs, leaving the station 16 statute miles higher than when the shuttle
docked.
Later in the day, Cockrell, assisted by astronaut Marsha Ivins, powered up
Atlantisí robotic arm to use its cameras to view areas of what appeared to
be bubbling paint on one station cooling radiator. Engineers are
evaluating what may have caused the condition, but there is no significant
concern and all station radiators are continuing to function normally as
they have since they were attached last year. At the end of the day, the
entire Atlantis crew reviewed plans for tomorrowís third and final
spacewalk scheduled for astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam.
Jones and Curbeam will exit Atlantisí cabin at about 9:18 a.m. Central to
begin five hours of work outside the shuttle and station. They will stow a
spare communications antenna on the stationís exterior; double-check some
connections between Destiny and its attached docking port; release winches
that had held a station radiator in place; give the nine-story station a
quick top-to-bottom inspection and evaluate the ability of a spacewalker
to carry an incapacitated crew member.
The shuttle and station crew will go to sleep at 8:13 p.m. Central. The
shuttle crew will awaken at 4:13 a.m. Wednesday and the station crew will
awaken a half-hour later. The Johnson Space Center newsroom will close at
9 p.m. and reopen at 4 a.m. Tuesday. The next Mission Control Center
Status Report will be issued at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
--end--